Improvement in breech-loading fibs-arms



@Patented June 11. 1867.

gln'itrh' 121125 gaunt @ffit't.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREBGHr-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

din ficlgcu'nlc match in, in flgest jtetiers fiaten'trnt making out atthe stain.

TO ALL TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, TIIoMAs WILLIAM WEBLEY, of 84 Weama-n street,Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Brit'ain, have invented or discovered new and-usefulImprovementsin Breech-Loading Fire-Ar1ns; and I, the said Tir'OMASWIhLIAu WEBLE'Y, do hereby declare the nature of thesaid invention, andin what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly'described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof;that is to say-- This invention has for its object improvements inbreech-loading fire-arms, and is applicable to that class of fire-armsin which the brooches of the barrel or barrels are opened to receivecartridges by turningdown the barrels on a horizontal axis that is atright angles to their length and at a short distance from their breechends, so that their breech ends-are raised up above the breech-piece.The barrels when in position for firing have in some cases been securedby a catch known as the Lei'aucheux or double-grip action catch, whichis composed of a locking bolt on the axis of a lever which is formed tofitagainst the trigger-guard. My invention consists in appiying a springto the locking bolt of this actioir to cause the gun to be self lockingwhen closed to force the barrels home. I prefer to apply the spring insuch a manner as' to cause the lever-handle of the bolt after it hasbeen moved in either direction beyond the centre of its travel to flyover to completely open or completely elose'thecatch. By this means thegun is made handier to open, and self-locking when closed, by forcingthe barrels home; A. spring so applied is shownin the drawings hereuntoannexed. I would, however, have it understood that Ido not confinemyselfto this arrangement. as other modes of applying a. spring may beadopted, as, for example, a. portion ofthe advantagederived-t'rom thisarrangement may be obtained by so combining the spring with the lockingboltas to make it self-locking only in place of acting, both tocompletely open as well as completely to close the catch. Thearrangement shown is, however, tho one that I prefer to employ.

Figure. 1 shows a longitudinal section of so much of a breech-loadingdouble-barrel gun as is necessary to illustrate my invention.

Figure 2 is an under side yie'w of the bre'ech piece, the locking beltor catchbeingremoved; and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the locking bolt separately.

at are the barrels, capable of turning. on the pin 6, carried by theprojection c'gon the under side of the breechpiece c, as is usual. d isthe cylindrical locking bolt, provided with a lever-handle, 1i, andturning on the pin e, carried by the projection a of the breech-piece. fis a lump on the under side of the barrels, in which is formed the'slotor recess into which the locking bolt engages, sm'all projections f onopposite sides of the month of the slot being received intospiralgrooves formed around opposite sides of the periphery of thelocking bolt in the ordinary manner. 9 is a bent spring, received in a.vertical recess in the centre of the back of the breech-piece. One endof the springis fixed by screws to the breech-piece, audits other endenters a hole in the backrof'a connecting-rod or slidefli, on theforward end of which is a pin thatenters ah'ole, 7a, in the lockingbolt, this hole being formed at the bottom of one of the spiral groovesin the locking bolt, as seen at figs, 1 and 3. When the locking bolt isturned by its lever-handle to release the barrels, the spring is firstpressed back by the rod it until the pin has passed the centre linebetween the end of the spring and the pin e on which the locking boltturns; the spring then presses the rod -71 forwards, and aids in turningthe locking bolt until the barrels are released and free to turn ontheir pin joint. 1 When the barfrelsare again turned up to close thegun, the projectionsf on "the lump below the barrels, by acting on thespiral grooves in the locking bolt, turn the bolt round towards itsformer position, as is usual, but in place of having by hand to completethe motion of the lever the spring 9 pressesforward the rod 72 andforces round the bolt, so as completely to lock the gun.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, and the manner ofperforming the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is theapplying a spring to-the locking bolt of what is known as the Lefaucheuxor double-grip action catch of breechloading fire-arms, so as to causethe gun to be self-locking when closed by forcing the barrels home.

THOS. W. WEBLEY. Witnesses:

T. W. Imrr,

JOHN HAmus.

